EX ALDERMAN NEWSLETTER 169 AND CHESTERFIELD 114 By John Hoffmann March 16, 2015 ELLISVILLE DOES SOMETHING THAT CHESTERFIELD AND TOWN AND COUNTRY CAN'T SEEM TO FIGURE OUT: I have to give Ellisville Mayor Adam Paul the tip of the hat. Last week I discovered that Ellisville is much more transparent as their Municipal Court records are now being filed on casenet which allows the public to review cases and follow cases. I have not seen Ellisville Municipal Court cases on casenet before. It is good to see that Ellisville is going to transparency of court records. There is no reason for Chesterfield and Town and Country not to follow suit. If tiny well known speed trap Bella Villa, North County muni Bel Ridge, much larger St. Ann and now Ellisville can put their court records in a public data base there is no reason why big cities like T&C and Chesterfield can't. To say you can't is admitting that you want to hide what your prosecutor and judge are up to. Judge/Commissioner ANDERSON, DONALD Assigned: KENNETH JR ELLISVILLE MUNICIPAL Location: COURT Disposition: Not Disposed Date Filed: 06/18/2014 Case Type: Municipal Ordinance - Traffic Here is what Ellisville Mayor Adam Paul wrote when I asked him about all court filings now being in casenet and open to the public. From: Adam Paul Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2015 9:41 AM To: John Hoffmann Subject: RE: question To better serve our community we switched to the Office of State Courts Administrator software. The cases are now sent directly to casenet. I try to promote good governance. 1 ENGELMEYER AT IT AGAIN: As many readers know Chesterfield city prosecutor is a man of many conflicts of interests. He is a prosecutor in Chesterfield, Des Peres and Valley Park and the judge in Creve Coeur but also a defense attorney representing people in other nearby towns. I routinely check to see what 3-time DWI defendant Kathleen "Katie" Huggard is up to. One of Katie's three DWI arrests in on our website homepage under "Our favorite Police Reports." It is the one where Katie threatened to pee in the County Police Officer's patrol car if he arrested her. Tim Engelmeyer represented her on that one. 3x drunk driver Huggard Her defense attorney, Tim Engelmeyer Chesterfield prosecutor and Creve Coeur judge. The Ellisville DWI arrest was filed as a felony in 2013. However Bob McCulloch's office reduced it to a misdemeanor. She pled guilty and her license was revoked. Twice in 2014 she was arrested by Ellisville officers for Driving While Driver's License Revoked charges due to the DWI convictions. Guess who is representing her? Yep the nearby prosecutor and judge: HUGGARD , KATHLEEN ANNE , Defendant 513 BEACON POINT GROVER, MO 63040 represented by Year of Birth: 1988 2 ENGELMEYER , TIMOTHY ANDREW , Attorney for Defendant 13321 N OUTER FORTY RD SUITE 300 CHESTERFIELD, MO 63017 Business: (636) 532-9933 On Sunday March 8 a St. Louis Post-Dispatch's editorial made a strong point how defense attorneys who are also prosecutors and judges have clear conflicts of interests. The Department of Justice also pointed out problems with arrangement. Apparently everyone can see this but the mayor and city council of Chesterfield. THE WAVE IS COMING…WILL CHESTERFIELD AND TOWN AND COUNTRY MAKE CHANGES OR HAVE THEIR COURTS TAKEN OVER? Here is a quote from an article in the Post-Dispatch from Dan Knight the president of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. The second sentence of the article along with the quote are pertinent. Dan Knight, president of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, said generating revenue through fines is wrong. He also called for the end of municipal prosecutors also practicing criminal defense. “People must have confidence that they are treated fairly,” Knight said. If the president of the Missouri Prosecuting Attorney's Association thinks the dual roles of Tim Engelmeyer as a prosecutor and defense attorney should be ended, then clearly everything I have been writing about every six months while reviewing Chesterfield Court cases has some merit. LIQUOR STORE THAT IS COMING TO MANCHESTER MEADOWS SUBMITS SIGN REQUESTS: Total Wine will be moving into the former Office Max location. 3 FEBRUARY POLICE ACTIVITY…17 REPORTS OF STOLEN IDENTITY FOR FILING OF FALSE IRS TAX RETURNS: In February 17 Town and Country residents made police reports complaining of people having stolen social security numbers and other identifying information and them filing tax returns where refunds were sent to the suspects. Here are the February Town and Country Police stats: Officers responded to a total of 1327 calls for service and wrote a total of 194 reports, including: 56 Vehicle Crashes 45 Criminal Reports (17 are IRS frauds) 14 Driving While Intoxicated arrests (1 Felony, 0 Misd, 13 ord) 39 Misc Arrests (Traffic charges, Fugitive charges, Failure to appear charges, etc) 376 Traffic citations issued (227 speeding) 2015 Police Activity Town and Country YTD Jan-Feb 122 Vehicle Crashes 70 Criminal Reports 29 Driving While Intoxicated arrests (3 Felony, 1 Misd, 25 Ord) 92 Misc Arrests (Traffic charges, Fugitive charges, Failure to Appear charges, etc) 907 total traffic citations issued 587 speeding DEER ACCIDENTS UP FROM 2014: Four crashes involving deer in January and now four in February have 2015 deer accidents totals leading 2014 totals YTD 8-to-5. Here is where the accidents happened in February: Feb. 12 7:40 am Ladue Road east of Hwy 141 Ward 4 Feb. 21 6:11 pm NB Hwy 141 at Ladue Road Ward 4 Feb. 24 1:46 am NB 270 at I-64 Ward 1 Feb. 26 6:46 pm Clayton Road and Claymark Ward 1/2 4 2015 Deer Accident Locations I-270 1 Ward 1 Clayton Road Mason to Topping 1 Clayton Road Mason to Woods Mill 1 Conway Road 1 Ward 4 Ladue Road 2 Ward 4 Highway 141 1 Ward 4 Mason Road 1 Ward 4 Ward 2 Ward 3 EVENTS PLANNED FOR WIRTH PROPERTY WITH NO INPUT FROM TOWN SQUARE TASK FORCE: The Town Square Task Force is meeting through October trying to find out what to do with the 8.8 acres of the Wirth property that the city bought for $2.3- million. However some people at City hall apparently don't need no "stinkin" Task Force to tell them what to do. On March 6 the city announced they would be holding a BBQ and Music event at the Wirth property in a month. Here is the news release: BBQ Blowout! Town Square (Wirth Property, 13360 Clayton Rd.) Friday, April 10th 6-9:30 PM Live Music & BBQ for Sale Saturday April 11th 11 AM-4 PM Music & BBQ for Sale Don’t miss Town & Country’s first ever BBQ competition! This St. Louis BBQ Society sanctioned event will host local competitors all vying for the big prize money. Some of the competitors will also be set up as vendors to serve dinner on Friday evening and lunch on Saturday. This event is the second event of the Budweiser BBQ Series. Come taste some amazing BBQ! 5 ACT FIRST AND THINK LATER! This of course brings up questions like, where will everyone park? Is live amplified music what nearby homeowners are looking forward to? Is having your house enveloped with the small of BBQ a good thing. Vacant Wirth Property Smoke pouring from a smoker at a BBQ contest At the March 9th Board of Aldermen meeting I asked two alderpersons about this and they said they were unaware of it. How can city staff decide to use a controversial piece of property for a special event and not tell all the elected officials about it? Apparently that is standard operating procedure in Town and Country and with at least one Alderwoman and one staffer. Let's say 600-to-1,200 people show up for the BBQ and music event. Where are you going to put 300-500 cars? Let's say it is moderately more successful and 2,000 people show up…where do you put 800 cars? Where are the portable restrooms located? How does this effect traffic flow on Clayton Road? I learned that the BBQ contest and concerts came from Park Director Anne Nixon, who since day-one with the city has been an events person and not much for land management. This is a great event, but it is too big for the little bit of land we have to manage called the Wirth Property. 6 Parks Director Anne Nixon Ald. Lynn Wright I have to think that Parks Commission Chair Ald. Lynn Wright clearly knew about the BBQ competition and concerts. Why either Nixon or Wright did not inform all the elected officials is a mystery to me. I then asked city administrator Gary Hoelzer about the event and mentioned my concerns over parking and traffic flow on Clayton Road among other things. Hoelzer said he had the same concerns and the event was cancelled for Clayton Road at the Wirth property just over the parking logistics alone. Gary said he was trying to get the promoters to move it to the empty parking lot at the vacant Wal Mart store in the Manchester Meadows Shopping Center. On Thursday March 12 the event was moved to Chesterfield. Town and Country staffers and elected officials need to admit that such events are best held at the City of Chesterfield Amphitheater. The place can hold several thousand and has a huge parking lot. BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING March 9, 2015: ANDERSON MISSES HER FOURTH MEETING IN 10 MONTHS: At the March 9 Board of Aldermen meeting Mayor/Cigarette Lobbyist Jon Dalton and alderwomen Lynn Wright and Amy Anderson were absent. It was the fourth meeting Anderson has missed since May. She campaigned how she was going to be the "Voice of the People." There were two meetings cancelled, one last summer and one during the Christmas holidays. That means Anderson was expected to show up to 20 meetings. The Voice of People has missed 20% of the meetings. 7 Three empty chairs on the right side of the dais. TOWN AND COUNTRY CROSSING…THE RETURN OF STEIN MART AND THE COFFEE SHOP DRIVE THRU: If you remember last December Ed Eickhoff of Ramco-Gershenson Properties from Farmington Hills, Michigan came to a P&Z meeting and dramatically claimed that Clayton Road and Woods Mill Road were in a dire need of a high quality coffee shop. We called BULL SHIT on Eickhoff pointing out there was a Starbucks in the Target Store in the same shopping center where is wants a drive through coffee shop 700 feet away. We also pointed out three other high end coffee shops on nearby corners. Ed Eickhoff from Michigan Eickhoff was back on Monday's Board of Aldermen meeting for the first reading of bills for an amended site plan, signs and approval of an Architectural Review Board recommendation. This time he was not screaming EMERGENCY THERE IS NOT ENOUGH COFFEE…but he still had plans for a drive through coffee shop, specifically at the northwest end of the center. 8 Owners of Town and Country Crossing want to make this empty end store a drive thru coffee shop. A NEW PROPONENT FOR THE PROJECT: Fred Meyland-Smith apparently didn't like the way the presentation by Ramco-Gershenson Properties was going and from the dais he went from an Alderman who will voted on this matter in two weeks, to part of a spokesman for the Town and Country Crossing Shopping Center Team. Meyland-Smith ordered the power point to be moved to different photos and spent 15 minutes giving his own presentation. In reality the shopping center owners went back and made a few minor tweaks after listening to issues that came up at the first Planning and Zoning meeting. This will pass with no problem. MEYLAND-SMITH TAKES A SHOT AT HIS CHALLENGER OR MAYBE ME: The revised plan for the entire shopping center including the new Stein Mart store increases the overall square footage versus what was original approved in 2007 by 11,000 square feet. This is no big deal. However Fred "Talks a Lot" Meyland-Smith thought it might be. Meyland-Smith said how he was in favor of the new plans and then added this comment: "Unless I get harpooned by certain parties for advocating more commercials space." 9 I don't know if this is directed at his opponent in the April election Mary Steward or towards me. However Fred is so famous of saying stupid things, like the time Bill McClellan came to a meeting when the board was going to vote on a budget I prepared to save the jobs of three women city employees. McClellan had just written a column when he contacted mayor Dalton by phone and thought it was interesting that Dalton was on a ski lift in Colorado. Meyland-Smith made it a point to dress down one of the top political columnists in the country and loudly told him how "unprofessional" he thought the column was. Of course I was unaware that Meyland-Smith had been in the column writing business and would know if something was professional or unprofessional. Anyway, McClellan was able to use Meyland-Smith's outburst in his next column. BENIGAS IS WORRIED THAT STEIN MART WILL BE WILDLY SUCCESSFUL! "I think Stein Mart will be wildly successful," said Alderman John Benigas. "But with the speed bumps on the parking lot, I'm worried that traffic will be backed up to the circle…er…I mean roundabout," Apparently Benigas doesn't get around much. There is a Stein Mart at Manchester and McKnight in Rock Hill near the very wealthy City of Ladue. Traffic is not backed up onto Manchester Road with people trying to get to the Stein Mart. The drive thru lanes at Starbucks and Wendy's cause the traffic issues and not Stein Mart. The idea of Benigas being delayed in getting to the Whole Foods Stores in the Town and Country Crossing to buy overpriced veggies for his vegetarian diet is frightening. 10 BENIGAS WANTS SHOPPING CENTER WALKING PATH TO TIE INTO THE SAVANNAH OAKS TRAIL….A CASE OF OVER GOVERNMENT. Jon Benigas then proved how Ronald Reagan had a very good point when he said, "The problem with government is government." Benigas noted the shopping center had planned a trail around the center. Ed Eickhoff said the 1 mile walk included had quarter-mile signs marking people's progress. Benigas then asked if the shopping center could tie in their walkway with that of the new subdivision's sidewalks and also walkway through the Savannah Oak property on the corner of Clayton Road and Henry. Why would homeowners want strangers walking through their subdivision? This suggestion was made by Benigas who lives in a gated community with a guard house to keep out walkers. While the Clayton Road is in Chesterfield and Henry Avenue is in Ballwin, the wooded area is in Town and Country. An agreement was made that Pulte Homes and later the subdivision trustees would maintain the Oak Savannah. However there are now dead trees that could fall on the sidewalk or into Clayton Road. The City and Pulte refuse to remove these trees. The city says it is Pulte Homes' responsibility. While Pulte claims the area is suppose to be a natural reserve and the trees should be left alone, even the dead ones. Town and Country Crossing is wise to stay as far away from the Savannah Oaks area as possible. 11 LINDA RALLO MAKES A GOOD POINT BUT DOESN'T FOLLOW THROUGH… During the agenda meeting it was mentioned that Building M (shown in photo on page 8) would be a "drive through restaurant." Rallo asked if that meant it could be any kind of a drive thru restaurant, like a Taco Bell. Ed Eickhoff responded they were only dealing with coffee type facilities. Well that did not answer Rallo's question. It is easy to say this since Linda was dressed to the nines with a nice pair of high heels to boot…but she didn't have the balls to force an answer. In fact none of the alderpersons forced an answer at this point. Rallo who voted for the latest Dalton budget with $25,000 for Beautification Grants to give millionaires tax money for new plantings and signs at the entrance to their subdivision despite the budget having an overall $1.2 million deficit. Rallo justified her vote by saying, "I like nice things." I like Taco Bell and even the new Taco Bell buildings. Apparently those are not on Linda's list of "nice things." Ald. Lynn Wrights says "art is in the eye of the beholder" when I complain about her allowing shows with hard-R sexually graphic art pieces to be hung in a building in the city park. It seems to be that "nice things" are also in the eye of the beholder. 12 A Taco Bell Drive Thru During the regular Board of Aldermen meeting it was claimed that the aldermen could still vote to keep specific restaurants out of the building already approved as a "drive thru" restaurant. The only person who would come out ahead on this would be city attorney Steve Garrett as he bills the city for defending a losing lawsuit when the aldermen try and keep out a "drive thru restaurant" in Building M of the Town and Country Crossing Shopping Center. Ed Eickhoff tried to convince board members that he was a man of his word and they could trust in him about finding an appropriate coffee type restaurant to go into the center. Apparently Ed is unfamiliar with corporate buyouts, sell offs of some underperforming properties and even sudden deaths of corporate vice-presidents. 13 LINDA RALLO MAKES A STUPID POINT MUCH LIKE SOMEONE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE NOISE AFTER BUYING A HOUSE NEXT TO THE AIRPORT RUNWAY. The next issue Linda took on was what Ramco-Gershenson was going to do to be sure no children from the backyard of a house backing up to the main drive into the shopping center off Clayton Road are hit by a car chasing a ball. Eickhoff said that really wasn't their problem. He was right! The shopping center was built and in operation for over four years before the first house was being built by Pulte Homes on the west side of the drive into the shopping center. If anyone ought to be making safety warnings are installing fence or walls to ensure safety it is Pulte Homes and not the shopping center. SAFETY ISSUES: SPOKESMAN FOR MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY SAY THEY WANT TO BE GOOD NEIGHBORS EVEN TO THE FIRE MARSHAL: I got a laugh during the Site Plan Ordinance and Architectural Review for a new dorm on the campus of Maryville University. Consulting engineer John Willems was filling in for the vacationing smooth talking and slick George Stock of Stock and Associates. We are going to be kind here and simply say that Willems was struggling with his presentation. As I was about to nod off Willems suddenly got my attention. It concerned changes to the plans which eliminate a couple of parking spaces to increase a fire lane for access to emergency vehicles in front of the planned college dormitory. Willems was complaining that the West County EMS & Fire Protection District Fire Marshall originally approved the plans but then changed his mind about the fire lane. "Maryville, being the good neighbor that it is and wanting to get along with the fire marshal moved some parking spaces," said Willems. I don't think being a "GOOD NEIGHBOR" had crap to do with the decision on Maryville's part. Getting an occupancy permit from the fire marshal so they could put students in a dorm they planned to build probably had more to do with it than neighborliness. EVERYONE AGREES IT A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE…THEN THEY DON'T SPEED THINGS UP GETTING THE FIX: There was a bill on first reading to allow the Moog center for Deaf Education to expand its parking lot. The Moog Education Center is located just to the north of the City Hall and Police Station on a curve where Municipal 14 Center Drive stops being a service road for I-270 and turns into the South Outer Forty Road and is a service road for I-64/Highway 40. A deaf education center in the City of St. Louis had closed and spiked enrollment at Moog. There were not enough parking spaces on the the lot and people began parking on the Interstate Highway Service Road. Alva Moog stated they wanted to add 14 parking spaces and described it as a safety issue. He talked about parents of deaf students having to park on the shoulder of the service road where there are no sidewalks to walk to the school and how dangerous it was. All the aldermen present seemed to agree with Moog about how unsafe it was for parents and deaf students to have to walk along a highway service road. The bill was then continued to the meeting of March 23. Bills normally have to be first read and then voted on two weeks later to give the public a chance to voice any concerns or thoughts about the legislation and to allow the elected officials to investigate the proposal further if they wish. There are some exceptions to the "First Reading and Second Reading/Vote" rule and one of them deals with SAFETY. This is clearly a safety issue…but not one of the six alderpersons present moved to read the bill for a second time and pass it so maybe the dangerous situation of people parking on the shoulder could be eliminated two weeks faster. SAFETY ISSUE III: Thursday night I noticed a construction trailer was blocking the directional sign for motorists to get on I-64 at Mason Road. It is bad enough that the BJC building project is closing lanes at a busy intersection. But now workers are parking construction trailers in front of an important sign to guide out-of-towners onto the interstate. It turned out the trailer belonged to MoDOT. 15 A QUIET EXIT: Officer John Mattingly finished 30 years on the job this month with the Town and Country Police. His official last date on the books was March 4 which was his 30th anniversary with the department. However his actual last day on the streets was in February as he took a few weeks of vacation. 30 years at one Cop Shop is quite an achievement. I did 30 years in law enforcement working for five different agencies in three different metropolitan areas. Officer John Mattingly having ditched his uniform weeks earlier, get a handshake and certificate plus a LAGERS pension. FERGUSON FALLOUT: THE SHOOTING: The Webster Groves and St. Louis County police officers who were shot on Thursday March 12 just after midnight while assisting the Ferguson PD after protesters blocked the street in front of the police station, sent out a strong message. The message is to the communities in St. Louis County and to Governor Nixon. It was officers from Chesterfield, Manchester, Florissant and Shrewsbury officers were on the scene when the Webster Groves and St. Louis County officers were shot on Thursday morning helping provide cover for reporters to get to a safe area. 16 The idea of this type of Police Mutual Aid responses dates back to the Washington University ROTC building arson fire back in 1969. Students were throwing rocks, bricks and bottles at firefighters keeping them away from the burning building. The campus where the fire was is actually in unincorporated St. Louis County. There was not a campus police force like there is today and there was a problem getting enough cops to the scene to protect the firefighters. This event created the Code 1000 where between 100 and 200 officers from all the departments ini the county could respond to a single incident. The last time a Code 1000 was used prior to the Mike Brown shooting was for a riot after a rock concert was cancelled in mid performance at the Verizon Center in Maryland Heights. That was a onetime event and one callout. The Michael Brown shooting and its aftermath has turned into a siege. 17 It is not fair to all the agencies to have to keep sending officers and cars to Ferguson. The City of Webster Groves is responsible for the medical bills, workers comp and filling the work schedule with officers on overtime after their officer was shot on duty over 30 miles away from the Webster Groves City Limits. The fact that later on Thursday the St. Louis County Police and Missouri Highway Patrol agreed to take over the police presence at any further protests in Ferguson was a move in the right direction. Of course this means fewer County officers to answer calls and fewer troops to respond to accidents. But after seven months hopefully municipal police officers can stop making the drive to Ferguson. Legal Services: After the Ferguson Judge Ronald "Deadbeat" Brockmeyer resigned, followed quickly by City Manager John Shaw and Police Tom Jackson…it led us to look at the rest of the legal department of the City of Ferguson. We pointed out last week how the Municipal Judge Ron Brockmeyer not only owes the IRS over $172,000, he hasn't paid the real estate taxes in two years on his law office building in St. Charles. He has been late in paying his vehicle taxes for the last five years and in 10 of last 15 years has been as much as 2 1/2 years overdue in paying his real estate taxes on a house in Florissant. This raises two two questions…who vetted this guy for reappointment by the city council and also who was the city prosecutor who let him fleece lower income defendants in Municipal Court. The answer is that it was the same person, Stephanie E. Karr, who was both the city attorney and prosecutor in Ferguson. That is almost a conflict of interest because as a prosecutor you will not consider a defense attorney's position an ordinance is unconstitutional because as City Attorney you helped draft it and pass it. Stephanie Karr 18 Karr is a partner of the Law firm of Curtis, Heinz, Garrett, O'Keefe. That is the same law firm that supplies the city attorney (Steve Garrett), prosecutor (Brian Malone) and P&Z Counsel (Ken Heinz) to Town and Country. It is interesting that as of March 11 the only way to find that Karr is city attorney in Ferguson is to get the minutes of past meetings where she is listed by title as being in attendance. If you go to the Curtis, Heinz, Garrett, O'Keefe website you will see a blank line where Karr's work as city attorney and PA in Ferguson had been. What does this say of the transparency of this law firm when they list all the city government clients past and present of their attorneys, with one exception which they deleted. It is also interesting that Karr works for a number of well known speed traps in the metro area. CITY ATTORNEY City of Edmundson (2004 – present) City of New Melle (2003 – 2013) Village Attorney, Village of Bellerive Acres (2002 – present) Village Prosecutor, Village of Bel-Nor (2001 – present) City Prosecutor, City of Hazelwood (2004 – present) In fact here is a list of some of the more notorious cities with speed traps that was recently represented or is currently represented by Curtis, Heinz, Garrett and O'Keefe. City Population Bel Nor 1,490 Cool Valley 1,193 Country Club Hills 1,268 Edmundson 837 Velda City 1,410 size # of Police 0.63 sq miles 0.48 sq miles 0.18 sq miles 0.28 sq miles 0.16 sq miles # of veh stops in 2013 6 478 7 contract in 2013 1,326 (2012) 8 1802 10 2014 14 730 FOLLOW THE MONEY…THE LOCAL RACES: Town and Country Board of Aldermen: Ward 2: Tim Walsh: Tim has not formed a Campaign Committee or filed a campaign contribution report by March 5 which is required by Missouri Law if he plans to spend over $1,000 during the campaign. 19 A mailing for Ward 2 counting printing and postage is about $700. 50-to-100 yard signs and stakes are another $500. So if you get a printed flier in your mailbox and see Walsh for Alderman signs in a yard…you will know that Walsh likely violated Ethics laws. If you just get a flier or you don't get a flier and see only signs he is likely in compliance. Tiffany Frautschi Tiffany has been on a whirlwind going to teas and neighborhood campaign parties. Frautschi, who appears to be her own person not tied to anyone, like Mayor/Cigarette Lobbyist Jon Dalton or any other member of the Board of Alderman appears to be getting support from all over Ward-2. On February 26 Frautschi had already spent $1,584 on printing costs and a mailer. She still has $1,647 in the bank. $500 Kevin Beckman Stifel Lane (Ward -3 former alderman) $300 Jennifer Harbaugh Wheaton Hill Ct T&C $300 Jeanne Martin Bradburn T&C $300 Radha and Vijay Patnana Timor Ct T&C $250 Kevin Morrell Ballwin, MO $250 Christiana Roemer Manor Hill Rd T&C $200 Ann Hamilton Thornhill Dr T&C (Former alderwoman) $200 James and Mary Sertl S. Mason Road T&C $150 Debra and Doug Jansma and Rushing Thornhill Dr T&C 20 Frautschi also raised $1,082 from people giving less than $100. Ward 3 Fred Meyland-Smith The official wind bag of the board of aldermen, Fred MeylandSmith's 40-day before the election report does not show much activity or a groundswell of voter support. There are only five contributors and one of them is Fred! On February 26, 2015 Fred had a whole $829 in his campaign account. $500 $500 $180 $100 $ 50 Mark Dow 1141 Chatsworth Place T&C (Fred's campaign treasurer) Fred himself Alden Craddock VP Maryville University Kraig and Sandra Kreikemeier 1024 Woodfield T&C (neighbors of Fred and Kraig serves on the P&Z Commission with Fred) Jim and Joyce Haven 822 Mason Wood Dr. T&C (Jim Haven is a former alderman) All but one of Fred's contributors are from Ward-3. The one that isn't is Alden Craddock with Maryville University. You have to wonder if this was a pay back from MeylandSmith's vote on the P&Z and then at the Board of Aldermen in favor of the rezoning property along Conway Road from residential to a special use for Maryland University. Mary Steward Money perhaps isn't a big issue for Mary Steward as the Steward family has lots of it. However some of the support is interesting, especially coming to a candidate who favors the city's use of lethal deer management. Both "deer whackos" who contributed to Steward's campaign have had a dislike for Meyland-Smith for some time. On February 25 Steward has $1,010 in her campaign account. $3,200 $500 $300 $200 Lion's Forge Maryland Heights (The Lion's Forge is a comic book producer and publisher owned by Steward's husband, David Steward, III. The $3,200 is an "in-kind" contribution meaning it was likely for material design or printing.) Kevin Beckman Stifel Lane T&C (Kevin is a former Ward-3 alderman) Husband David Steward Eric Alan Gerber 13482 Mason Village T&C (Gerber is a former alderman and a deer whacko. He and Meyland-Smith got into a shoving match when Meyland-Smith blocked Gerber's way to a deer management site in 2012 causing Gerber to unleash a verbal attack on Meyland-Smith at the next Board of Alderman meeting.) 21 $100 $100 $100 $ 75 No-Rezoning in Town and Country 13004 Starbuck Road T&C Richard Jensen 13004 Starbuck Road T&C David Spewak 5 Williamsburg Lane (Neighbor and Steward's campaign treasurer) Richard Palmer 604 Greenwich Green T&C (Husband of #1 Deer Whacko Marette Palmer) MONARCH FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: Robin Harris: The board president, who along with Jane Cunningham after she was elected in 2013 returned the fire board from a pro-fire union to a pro-taxpayer board. It is interesting that in the spring of 2014 Monarch Board Member Jane Cunningham gave $70,000 of the $75,000 in her campaign account left over when she was a Missouri Senator and then when she ran for the Fire District board to Republican State Rep Rick Stream who was running for County Executive. It was a surprisingly close race, with Stream losing to Democrat Steve Stenger. It turns out the Stream has some money left from the race and he is returning it to either Cunningham or the campaign of Fire Board president Robin Harris. $15,000 $13,100 $7,000 $7,000 $5,001 $1,000 $500 $500 $500 $300 $500 $200 $200 $100 Missourians for Tim Jones (Former Speaker of the House) Cunningham Campaign Committee Richard Gans (former Fire Board President) Chesterfield, MO Robin Harris (candidate Fire Board President) Friends of Rick Stream Richard Barber Chesterfield, MO Dr. Steven Smith Chesterfield Keystone Construction Co. Chesterfield, MO Citizens to Elect Don Gosen (State Rep) Chesterfield, MO Lauren Stelmacki Des Peres, MO Citizens to Elect Sue Allen (State Rep Town and Country) John Hammond Walnut Hill Farm Dr Chesterfield Charles Dobbins 1556 Yarmouth Point Dr Chesterfield Bob Nation Mayor of Chesterfield 22 $100 $100 $50 $50 Michael Henja Chesterfield, MO Gundaker Commercial Realty Paul Saiter 1328 Carriage Crossing Lane Chesterfield, MO Nancy Greenwood Chesterfield City Councilwoman Brad Sellenriek Winding Place Drive Chesterfield, MO Harris had $45,277 on hand when he filed the 40-day Before Election Report on February 25. Kelley Miller: The 18 month resident of the fire district, who came to a fire board meeting and after complaining about Robin Harris and Jane Cunningham hiring the current fire chief and assistant fire chief added it was not the last they had seen of her. For every intent and purpose she seems to be a candidate from the firefighter's union, Local 2662. She was sent a warning letter on March 3 by the Board of Election Commissioners for being seven days late in filing the "40-Day Before Election" contributions report. She filed the report the next day on March 4. It was interesting that Miller's campaign organization's name is "Taxpayers for Kelley Miller," but there were no Monarch taxpayers on her contributor list. $750 $100 $50 David Houston Tamaroa, IL Larry Parres 9321 Fox Glen Dr Sunset Hills, Mo 63126 Martha Winters High Ridge, MO. Of course this is normal for any candidate backed by the firefighter's union. To keep the person the firefighter union candidate is running against from sending out fliers showing their opponent is backed by the firefighter's union, the Union waits until the last minute to make large contributions. Two years ago when Cole McNary was being backed by the firefighter's union they contributed over $20,000 to McNary just before the election that went on the post-election campaign finance report so Jane Cunningham could not use it as a campaign issue. 23 CHESTERFIELD CITY COUNCIL Ward One: Nancy Greenwood: The former mayor and current Ward-1 councilwoman reported $1,685 at the 40-Day before election mark. Since she had only formed the committee four days before she made the report, she had not spent any money yet. She had three contributors giving over $100 and a number giving less than $100 which totaled $535. She also loaned her campaign $500. $250 $250 $150 Carol Kenney 256 Ridge Trail Dr Chesterfield, MO Barbara McGuiness 95 Riverbend Dr Chesterfield, MO Elaine Zukowski 88 Riverbend Dr Chesterfield, MO Nancy Greenwood HARVEY ROSENBERG AND JIM BROWN: Neither candidate opposing incumbent Greenwood has filed a Campaign Committee. That means they cannot spend over $1,000 without breaking the law. The larger wards in Chesterfield means one mailing of a printed flier to the entire ward would cost over $1,000. Candidate Harvey Rosenberg Jim Brown, but I don't think it is the Jim Brown running in Ward 1 24 GREEN TEAM SEEMS TO SPIN WHEELS: On the March 2 agenda for the Green Team Commission meeting under "Old Business" was the topic of "Climate Action Plan Development." Wow I was hoping the Green Team was going to have a plan to change the climate. I would have voted for a longer "Indian Summer." Unfortunately changing the climate was not to be. Commission members tried to come up with specific goals for action (things to do). Here are a few. GREEN TEAM COMMISSION VS ART COMMISSION: Linda Robson and Linda Hultgren both suggested planting high Prairie Grass on parts of the City Hall grounds. They both mentioned putting Prairie Grass around the Trova sculptures at the City and and at Longview Park, inferring that hiding the sculptures would be providing a community service. This was a clear swipe at the art commission who acquired the sculptures from the St. Louis County Parks Department which had been hiding them in a warehouse. The two Lindas who advocated high Prairie Grass to hide the City Hall sculpture that resembles a couple of satellite dishes that got dumped. FARMERS MARKET: Dirk Maas wanted to open up a city sponsored farmers' market, hopefully an organic farmers' market. He said this should be the Green Team's one central goal for the next two years. 25 Fellow commissioner Doug Rushing, a biologist of some note who works for Monsanto, mentioned that if Maas wanted an "Only Organic" farmers market he should put out two card tables because that was all he'd need. Rushing went on to explain how almost all local farms of any size use pesticides and fertilizers. Biologist Doug Rushing explains how there are not enough "organic" farms in the local area to supply a farmers market as Dirk Maas takes a defensive position. WORMS: Later both Lindas were pushing for classes to residents on "all organic" gardens. This caused Doug Rushing to ask them what they did when their tomatoes were covered with worms if they refused to use pesticides. They replied they simply pick off the worms. Next Doug asked what would they do if they had an acre of tomatoes. They replied that they would pick off as many worms as they could. THE MEETING OF FOLDED ARMS: If you noticed the above two photos each showed members with their arms folded, possibly while in disagreement of something being said. That included the committee chairman, Jon Benigas. 26 UNAPPROVED CHESTERFIELD NEWSLETTER 114 March 16, 2015 FIVE CITIES AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY NOW FIGHTING AGAINST CHESTERFIELD'S LAWSUIT TO END SALES TAX POOL: The cities of Ballwin, Wildwood, Webster Groves, Florissant and University City have joined St. Louis County as Party Intervenor-Defendants in Chesterfield's Law suit against the State of Missouri in attempt to remove the Sales tax Pool that only applies to some cities in St. Louis County. Webster Groves is the latest city to join the lawsuit trying to protect their revenue flow from the tax pool. Webster Groves Mayor Gerry Welch called the lawsuit approved by the entire Chesterfield City Council as "quite shameful." Webster Groves will kick in between $35,000 and $40,000 to pay for the legal bills to fight Chesterfield. Here is a section of an article by Mary Shapiro in the Webster-Kirkwood Times quoting Welch: "This new formula gives a few well-off cities more revenue by taking it off the backs of the majority of those which provide municipal services in St. Louis County," she had testified, saying that only seven local cities would benefit from a law change, though 85 would not. "It doesn't increase the pie – it simply gives bigger slices to those who need it least," she said. 27 Read more: http://www.websterkirkwoodtimes.com/Articles-Webster-Groves-i-2015-03-06194749.114137-Council-Moves-To-Join-Suit-On-Sales-Tax-Distribution.html#ixzz3TdCpORDa Follow us: @WKTimes on Twitter | WebsterKirkwoodTimes on Facebook Welch last involved Webster Groves on the losing side of a lawsuit filed against the city by Webster University and Eden Seminary after Webster Groves tried to block the sale of seminary property to WU and the university's intended use of the library building on the Eden property. FIREFIGHTER'S UNION CLAIMS FIRE DISTRICT DISBANDED EXPLORER PROGRAM TEN DAYS AFTER MONARCH FIRE DISTRICT PAID TO RENEW THE EXPLORER POST'S CHARTER WITH BOY SCOUTS. The Lie On Tuesday March 10 firefighter's Union Local 2665 posted on their website and sent to some media people a news release saying how the Monarch Fire Protection District has ended the District's Boy Scout Explorer Post Program. Here is part of the release: MARCH 10, 2015, St. Louis, Missouri…The Monarch Fire Protection District has ended a popular, award-winning program for Boy Scouts that Monarch Firefighters and Paramedics have administered for more than 20 years to young people interested in fire service careers. The program ended effective January 1, 2015, when the district Board of Directors did not renew the program’s charter with the Boy Scouts of America. Since the early 1990s, the program has been affiliated with the Boy Scouts’ Explorer Post #2202 in Chesterfield. The program cost the district about $1,500 per year. “It’s a disgrace that this program has been dropped,” said John Borgmann, a former Assistant Chief at Monarch who managed the program for nine years. “Hundreds of Boy Scouts participated over the years since the program began at Monarch in the early 1990s; many of them eventually became excellent firefighters and paramedics. It has been great for the Boy Scouts and great for the community.” (Left) John Borgmann (right) former Chief Tom Vineyard (Right) Ast. Chief Cary Spiegel who claims he paid the renewal for the Explorer program to the Boy Scouts, that Borgmann didn't. (Right) Fire Chief Chuck Marsonette. 28 THE TRUTH: Former Assistant Chief Borgmann did not pay the renewal for the Explorer Post due on January 1, 2014. Borgmann retired from the Fire District in March of 2013. Borgmann had been closely associated with Local 2665 since he was promoted to the command staff by the former pro-union board. The Explorer Post has continued uninterrupted led by a firefighter/paramedic and member of Local 2665, said Assistant Chief Cary Spiegel. While the membership is down to just five Explorers, they still meet regularly according to Spiegel. Spiegel said he paid the renewal with the Boy scouts on March 3 or seven days before Local 2665 claimed it was disbanded. Here is a portion of Monarch Fire Chief Chuck Marsonette press release in response to Local 2665. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, March 11, 2015 Contact Chief Chuck Marsonette at (314) 514-0900 MONARCH EXPLORER POST 2202 TO REMAIN IN SERVICE As a past Explorer Post President, and Vice President of the Explorer Presidents association of Missouri in my teens; I can assure you that Post 2202 of the Monarch Fire Protection District, will be maintained and reinvigorated under the current Command Staff as career education for young women and men. The Board of Directors supports my staff and I, in continuing the Explorer program as we have been doing. In fact, Assistant Chief Spiegel has contacted the Boy Scouts of America in recent months, requested; and was granted a variance to continue post operations to reverse lackluster membership under the previous Assistant Chief – John Borgmann. I have begun an investigation of the recent false press release by the public employee union and here are some of my findings: The Boy Scouts of America have been paid by check number 1107 in the amount of $256.00, for the annual renewal of our Explorer post charter from an invoice received from the Boy Scouts. The check was issued on 3-2-2015. Assistant Chief Spiegel forwarded this information for payment during his effort to revitalize the program. Previous to this, Monarch Fire Assistant Chief Borgmann did not pay the 2014 invoice for the same, nor did he direct that action be taken to address it. My investigation is continuing. Unfortunately, the Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T) program has also been left unattended while former Chief Vineyard and, now retired, Assistant Chief Borgmann were in charge. Assistant Chief Spiegel is reinitiating the Fire District’s involvement in that program as well. FROM THE DAIS ON EXPLORERS: At the March 13 meeting of the Monarch Fire Board during the "President's Report" Robin Harris asked Steve Swyers if he had directed anyone to disband the fire District's Explorer Program. 29 "In as much that I'm on the Executive Board of the St. Louis Regional Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the answer would be no," said Swyers. He next asked Jane Cunningham the same question. Her answer was "No." "Speaking for myself," said Harris, "we provide the maximum support for the Explorer program. It looks as if under the previous command staff (Chief Vineyard and Ast. Chief Borgmann) it languished. THE NON VOICE OF ST. LOUIS: Local 2665 had a number of suckers who will bite on any press release pointing toward mismanagement involving the Fire District. Recently they have all been red herrings. The one that took the bait this time on the made up Explorer issue was KMOX. Here is the article they had on their website: MONARCH, Mo. (KMOX) – More controversy in the Monarch Fire Protection Explorer Program that has been in existence for 20 years. According to union representatives, the program ended effective District, this time involving the Jan. 1. But Monarch Fire Chief Chuck Morsonette tells KMOX News, that is not true. He says Asst. Fire Chief Cary Spiegel contacted Boy Scouts of America and was informed the Explorer Program had become lackluster and didn’t have enough membership under the previous administration. KMOX contacted Explorer Post 2202’s Mary April, and she says that statement is not accurate. April says the post “wouldn’t be able to continue the program with that particular posts if there wasn’t enough kids and if there wasn’t enough leaders.” Morsonette says his administration is moving forward to reinvigorate the Explorer Pro WHERE IS IT? First of all to the Voice of St. Louis, maybe they could tell me where Monarch, Missouri is? The dateline of the story listed it from Monarch, MO. The Fire District headquarters are located in Chesterfield, MO. WHO? KMOX misspelled Monarch Fire Chief Chuck Marsonette's name twice. 30 KMOX did not identify anyone with Local 2665 who incorrectly claimed the program ended on January 1. Next KMOX misidentified Mary April as being with the Fire District's Explorer Post 2202. Mary April is with the St. Louis Regional Council of the Boy Scouts of America and not as KMOX reported with Explorer Post 2202. Also missing: There was no byline to identify the person at KMOX who wrote this 131 word piece of Total Misinformation. We routinely look at mistakes in the media…but this lack of reporting is beyond a mistake…it is simply sad coming from a former leader in St. Louis news. REAL ESTATE: NEW $4.85 MILLION LISTING: Barry and Susan Babcock's Ladue home at 760 Kent Road is on the market for $4,850,000 listed by Janet McAfee. The 10,738 foot house built in 1997 has seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, but only a four-car garage. Barry and Susan also have a 2012 750 BMW, a 2010 Subaru Outback and a 2008 Range Rover. Taxes on the house are $39,214. A few years ago the Babcock's house was 63rd on the list of the 100 highest taxed residential properties in the area. Babcock, 67, is one of the founders of Charter Communications. 31 THE TOP FOUR: Here are the top three residential properties in St. Louis County with the highest tax rates. $174,049 $113,194 $ 96,511 $ 72,016 7400 Grant Road Grantwood Village The Busch Estate at Grants Farm 1700 S. Warson Road Ladue Dennis Jones 20 South Upper Warson Ladue Thomas Brouster 7 Huntleigh Woods Huntleigh Donald Wayne RESTAURANT REVIEW: There is one coming up next week. MUSIC: Wednesday Night at Sasha's…Keyboard player Chris "Lupy" Swan shouts out after we take an upper level seat at Sasha's on Wednesday. 32 BAR LOUIE ON THURSDAY: I joked about this writing about Harpo's once, but I thought it might happen on Thursday night when I stopped at Bar Louie in the Chesterfield Valley to see Joe Mancuso. Honest to God, I was the oldest person in the place and frankly Joe and guitarist Dave Black were the second and third oldest. I was worried that I might be carded and asked to leave due to my advance age. I arrived at about 10 o'clock and stayed for about an hour. The place is open until 1:30 on weeknights. The menu is a bit pricey with burgers in the $11 range. But the wait staff was exceptionally nice. Joe was singing the blues. I really wasn't feeling like the blues. My wife and I had a 1:20 appointment the next day to euthanize a dog we had raised as a pup due to a severely adverse medical condition. But then Joe's daughter Chela Mancuso, a sophomore music major at Webster University, showed, sang a couple of songs, put a smile on my face just in time to leave. SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WILDEY IN EDWARDSVILLE: 75-percent of the seats were sold for the Dean Christopher Rat Park show at the Wildey Theater on Main Street in Edwardsville. (BTW The Wildey has great seating areas with plenty of butt and leg room.) This is the fourth time I have seen Dean's regular Rat Pack Show ( I have seen his Christmas Show six times)…he changed it up a bit and then added 10 minutes of ad-libs with the audience. I knew everybody in the band. It was nice to see Butch Gray on the keyboard. Butch is a former Air Force Band guy who also is the pianist on the Tommie Money Big Band CD. I'll see saxophonist Larry Johnson next Wednesday at Sasha's on DeMun where he said he planned to sit in with Jim Manley and Chris Swan. 33 CARTOONS: This week we feature editorial cartoons on drunk driving Secret Service Agents. Next week we will have at least five pages of Hillary Email cartoons. 34 As I longtime reader of Mark Trail…this one made me laugh. 35 36 37 38 from Steve Benson of the Arizona Republic 39
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